Vol.3 No.

3 Winter 2012

Book Review

Community Development: A Critical Approach

(Second Edition)
Margaret Ledwith (2011) Polity Press: Bristol

Bernie Grummell
Department of Adult and Community Education
National University of Ireland Maynooth

This second edition of Margaret Ledwith’s Community Development: A Critical

Approach offers a critical and searching review of community activism and theory
that is clearly positioned in the contemporary era of global economic, social and
environmental crisis. As Ira Shor notes in his foreword, Margaret Ledwith has a
great capacity to ‘model the approach she recommends, wonderfully merging
conceptual and practical matters in relation to community development’ (p.x). As
such, it offers a very accessible introduction to those new to the ideas and approaches
of community development, while also challenging experienced community
development workers to re-engage with the critical pedagogy of Freire and Gramsci,
as well as a wide range of community development literature in a searing analysis of
the current global political and economic crisis. The easy writing style, stories of
community development and practical focus of this book belies its sharp theoretical
analysis of power and poverty. The discussion of community development theory and
practice is embedded in a detailed statistical analysis and a structural analysis of
praxis that is rooted in a critique of neoliberalism and global poverty, as well as
developing a transformative orientation for greater equality, social justice and human
flourishing – Kemmis’ (2009) ‘aim to live well’ (page 78). This discussion draws on
a lifetime of experience, deep knowledge and profound sense of care for people and
community development.

From the opening thoughts of the book, the core processes, values and intentions of
community development are introduced in the shape of five vital dimensions of
community development that are outlined as a living process to guide the reader
through the book. The discussion is underpinned by an urgent call for community
development to reclaim its radical and sustainable agenda in a manner that has social
justice and participatory democracy at its core. The stories of activists, including
Margaret’s own experiences, run throughout the chapters of the book, highlighting the
local and global connections of community solidarity that unite people across the
world in community struggle. These are underpinned by an emerging critique of the
changing political and social contexts of contemporary society characterised by
managerialism, individualism and consumerism.

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 Vol.3 No.3 Winter 2012

This imperative for resistance and empowerment is clearly outlined in the discussion
of the political context of the ‘Big Society’ conception of the UK and neoliberal
globalisation of chapter one. This gives a clear indication of the urgent need for
community-based politicisation, radical transformation and empowerment. Chapter
two focuses on the practice of community development, outlining an approach that
draws on the pedagogies of Friere and Gramsci. This chapter moves from the radical
analysis of policy and theory in the previous chapter to give a practical ‘how to do’
guide to community profiling and a model of critical praxis that is then applied to
critique child poverty, human rights approach and anti-poverty practice in the UK.
Chapter three continues this blending of practical advice with critical analysis, with an
introduction to the work of Paulo Freire and practical ideas about how to use story or
narratives of liberation with community groups.

Chapter four focuses on a research-based approach to organising in the community

through Emancipatory Action Research, outlining how its research processes fit the
ideological base of community development in its co-creation of knowledge and
cyclical participative model. Its application is illustrated in the analysis of the
Scottish Community Development Centre’s ABCD approach and Saul Alinsky’s
People’s Organisation. How the dynamic relationship between reflection and action
forms the focus of collective action for change is discussed in Chapter five by
drawing on the theoretical ideas of Friere, Boal, Giroux, Gramsci amongst others.
This theoretical basis of participatory democracy in action is then applied to the
experiences and insights of the Adult Learning Project and Learning for Democracy
Group in Edinburgh, the Migrants Rights Centre in Dublin, the Women’s Forum at
the Beijing UN Intergovernmental Conference and the Bolivian Social Movement,
before offering a framework for local/global action (page 129)

The power of ideas is discussed in Chapter six, drawing on a critique of Gramsci’s

concepts of hegemony and role of intellectuals, which is linked to Thompson’s
concentric PCS (personal, cultural, structural) model to make critical connections and
suggest practical possibilities for community development. The critique of Friere and
Gramsci highlights the need to situate critical pedagogy in a local context and moves
the discussion onto an analysis of the contribution of contemporary theories of
feminism, class and environmental justice in Chapter seven. Chapter eight outlines a
searing analysis of social justice and equality, by drawing on an informed and diverse
range of critical theories which are then applied to stories from community experience
- such as Frankenberg’s (1997) analysis of the accumulated ‘unearned privileges’ of
whiteness (page. 178) which is embedded in the practices of Diane Warner, a black
university teacher in a nearly all-white university. This blending of theory and
experiential insights is powerfully used throughout the book, building towards the
Freirean-feminist-anti-racist pedagogy that is the subject of Chapter eight – in and of
itself an unwieldy title that does not capture the simple complexity and power of its

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 Vol.3 No.3 Winter 2012

argument about social justice and the needs to reclaim the radical agenda in
community development.

This is a very accessible and readable book that is based on a detailed knowledge of
statistical research, critical theory and community development experience, which is
used to critique current state policy and develop an evidence-based argument about
the structural implications of inequality in our society. While this obviously locates
the book in this era, it is carefully contextualised and supports its claims by drawing
on a diverse range of policy, statistical and qualitative research studies from local and
global scales. It blends a variety of styles from critical analysis of policy, theoretical
insights, practical advice and stories and experiences from community-based practice
in a thoughtful and profound analysis of community development that engages and
challenges the reader.

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